1st North Dakota Infantry
Mercedes, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected 7 April 1960 In recognition of 1007 officers and enlisted men of the 1st North Dakota Infantry, North Dakota National Guard which occupied this area as a camp site 1916-1917. HISTORY Organized as 1st Dakota Infantry 1883 Redesignated 1st North Dakota Infantry 1885 FEDERAL SERVICE Span.-Amer. War & War of Insurrection 1898-1899 Mexican Border Service 1916-1917 REDESIGNATED 164TH INFANTRY WWI - - AEF - FRANCE 1917-1918 WWII - Pacific Theatre of Operations 1941-1945 Korean Conflict - Camp Rucker, Alabama 1951-1953 This regiment, as a part of the Americal Division, was the first United States Army component to take the offensive in World War II - Guadalcanal, 13 October 1942. Converted to 164th Engineer Group NDAK NG 1955
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This monument, dedicated in 1960, honors the more than a thousand men of the 1st North Dakota Infantry who camped in the lower Rio Grande Valley during the tense Mexican Border service of 1916-1917. First organized in Dakota Territory in 1883, the regiment served from the Spanish-American War through the Philippines, France in World War I, and the Pacific in World War II—where, as the 164th Infantry, it became the first U.S. Army unit to go on the offensive, at Guadalcanal in 1942.
Why it matters
The unit's long service links the closing of the frontier to America's rise as a global military power across half a century of conflict.
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Related events
- · Mexican Border Service, 1916-1917
- · Guadalcanal, 1942
Themes & tags
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